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RF c06s02
Text Ardent Desire fully expected Cupidus to come and save him, to tell him there had been some mistake, to at least... see him, and for things to be explained to him. He remembered agreeing to work for Cupidus, what had sounded like... simple jobs, maybe even easy jobs. He had expected desk work, and that he would be protected from the darker corners of Helheim, where he knew those who did evil in life were sent to be punished, by what he had thought were demons who were essentially good. He didn't expect to be tortured each and every day, while Jaundice watched over him like a hawk. He didn't expect that he'd be forced to drink the blood and ichors of other demons, or the agony of being 'quickly' transformed into a demon himself. And he didn't expect that 'quickly' would be a relative term, where it meant years instead of centuries. Years of living metaphorical hell in literal Hell, where all the suffering, torment, violation, and rituals that were usually spaced out over centuries of misery were packed into day after day after day... He didn't expect that for an entire decade, he'd live in a filthy hut with three other servants, who seemed to hate him unconditionally. Who were animal and vicious, who did... unspeakable things to him as he cried and screamed for mercy until he learned to fight back, until the day came when he pinned one of them down, snarling, raising a hoof... and then he saw the demon grinning up at him, eagerness and not fear in his eyes, and Ardent Desire realized what he was on the road to becoming. He was becoming like them. For ten years, he was mutilated in body and spirit, until the day finally came when Jaundice brought him not to the dungeons where he was used to being tortured, but a massive, sprawling mansion amidst the icy cliffs of northern Helheim. It was beautiful: the sprawling acres of yard inside the enormous, heavily-guarded stone walls looked picturesque and gorgeous, the snow smooth and flat, ice sculptures lining paths of magical stone that exuded a warmth that was enough to melt the snow and heat the bodies of those who strode along them. The interior was even more splendorous, but Ardent barely paid any attention to the world around him until they reached an enormous hall lined with desks and demons working hurriedly, counting money, assembling accounting books, signing contracts and arguing with each other. And at the very end of the hall was a massive, U-shaped desk that stood halfway to the ceiling, with a black platinum throne behind it inset with a crest at the very top that had become all too familiar to Ardent Desire over his years here: the crest of Cupidus. The devil himself sat in the throne, surveying them calmly: his claws rested on his desk, which had several pots of red ink, scrolls neatly placed in a little rack, and accounting books held in place by two crystalline skulls that served as bookends. His orange eyes looked calmly down at Ardent Desire as the stallion dragged himself forwards, looking up with a snarl as he shivered once, and then cursed in pain when his charred mane burst into flames for a moment before they whiffed out. Ardent Desire's body twisted back and forth as he fought down his emotions and felt the parts of him that had already been transformed writhe in agony and fury. The unicorn had grown larger, and his cutie mark had faded completely away. His coat was darker, but the colors shifted now and then, so gradually that it was almost unnoticeable. He was burning hot to the touch, and his body ached with it: he always felt feverish and weak, and worst of all was when his mane or tail would simply light up with fire, like dry kindling touched by a spark. But worse than his body changing was that his mind was changing... he could feel himself becoming more like the demons around him. Finally he forced himself to look up, and he asked the only question that he could think of: "Why?" Cupidus looked back down at him calmly, tapping one claw slowly against the desk before the Greed devil answered quietly: "Because this is what you agreed to, Ardent Desire. You agreed to repay me for the services I rendered you... and I gave you enough resources to live many lifetimes of bliss. You may have ultimately destroyed yourself-" "Don't lie to me, Cupidus! You betrayed me!" Ardent Desire shouted furiously, his eyes flashing, baring his teeth before he snarled as his mane and tail burst into flames, but he ignored the pain as he leaned up and howled: "I've heard the stories! I've put up with the mockery! This was all nothing but a game to you!" "Game? No, I do not play games, and I never once lied to you, Ardent Desire. My kind cannot tell lies, and you made the contract with me of your own free will and gave your own terms." Cupidus replied calmly, not disturbed in the slightest by the rage of the stallion. "Perhaps I glossed some facts over, but none of the costs were ever hidden. It was your own lack of due diligence that is to blame for your current situation... if anything, you should be thankful. You all-but-worshiped demons, did you not? And now I am making you one." "For your own benefit! I'm not stupid, Cupidus, not naïve enough anymore to think that you're doing this out of generosity." Ardent Desire retorted, and then he trembled and grabbed at his head with one hoof as the fires died out from his mane and tail, cursing under his breath. "You left me in that hole for ten years without a word to me-" "Your role is now that of servant to me, not the other way around, Ardent Desire. And I have been receiving regular reports on your welfare." Cupidus replied dismissively, and the devil calmly pulled one of his account books free, opening it and paging through it slowly. "Your value has increased less than projected over the last decade overall, but there is still promise... your material value has begun to climb faster, and within several years I estimate that you will make up the distance, or perhaps even surpass current projections." "What are you talking about?" Ardent Desire shouted, and Cupidus closed his book before the stallion snarled, his horn glowing and eyes blazing as he began to step forwards... but then he fell to the ground, hissing through his grit teeth, as he felt the all-too-familiar sensation of Jaundice's psychic claws ripping into his mind. The half-demon stallion forced himself to relax, trembling on the ground but not screaming, and he felt the psionic pressure slowly lift as Cupidus looked down at him. The devil's orange eyes seemed thoughtful at most before he sat back in his throne, tapping his claws against the arm of the chair in silent meditation. Jaundice looked up worriedly as Ardent Desire forced himself slowly to his hooves, and then Cupidus said softly: "I am willing to negotiate with you, Ardent Desire. All you have to do is stop fighting what you long to become anyway, and I'll put you to work today as my servant, to begin repaying your debt." "I'm not an idiot. There's no way I'm going to make a deal with you Cupidus, just like I know that I'm never going to escape being your slave... because to you demons, time is meaningless and all that, right?" Ardent Desire snarled up at the golden-masked devil. "I won't let you break me, and... and I'll never become a demon like you! I still believe in my mother's words!" "Illuminia died, and demons like Magister died out a long time ago." Cupidus responded in a colder voice, and Ardent Desire frowned at this name before the Greed devil sat up and waved a hand calmly. "Jaundice, take Ardent Desire out to his torture session. Make it twice as long as usual, and afterwards, treat him to a drink." "You won't break me." Ardent Desire whispered, but Cupidus only calmly returned to his papers. The stallion snarled, but then he quickly spun away and stormed down the aisle without looking back the moment he felt Jaundice's eyes lock on him. The demoness followed beside him, but the two were silent until they emerged from the manse... and then Ardent Desire threw his head back and simply screamed at the stone sky above. Jaundice only studied him quietly until the stallion finally slumped and panted hard, and then the demoness said softly: "You should just give in. You will become powerful. Look at how strong you are already..." "I'm not like you. I'm not vanity and envy, and I don't want power. I feel these sick urges, these needs, these... hungers..." Ardent Desire shivered and clenched his jaw, then he looked over at her and shouted angrily: "I won't become scum like you!" Jaundice only smiled at him sympathetically, and Ardent flushed after a moment, dropping his head forwards as he whispered: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." "I know. It's because you are fighting your nature so hard, Ardent Desire... your emotions are becoming confused, your pain is never-ending, because you deny who and what you are." Jaundice said gently, and then she studied him for a few moments before smiling at him in her strange, tender way. "I do not think of you as an enemy... does that help?" "That's strange, Jaundice. For the last decade you've put me through utter agony every single day. You've done horrific things to me, physically, mentally, emotionally. You've locked me in cells with succubi, humiliated me in public, watched as I was... as other demons..." He bit his lip, shivering violently, unable to speak of it. "And you... tried to make me... take my urges out on weaker souls. Weaker prisoners... do you know what I've learned about demons? They're not evil, no... they're disgusting, perverted animals. And I won't become like that." "You said that you still believe your mother's words, though, and I heard truth in your voice. You're losing your ability to lie, like most of us do." Jaundice replied curiously, and Ardent Desire closed his eyes... then nodded faintly once. For a few moments, the envy demon looked across at him before she leaned slowly in and whispered in his ear: "Then maybe your goal to not become a demon is wrong, Ardent Desire... maybe your goal should be to become a demon like your mother knew." Ardent Desire looked up sharply at her, trembling, as Jaundice leaned back, but he didn't even have to ask the question as she smiled at him. "Yes, I expect that I will be rewarded by Cupidus when you finally become a demon. But I thought I'd said this often enough for it to be clear, Ardent Desire... we are both flies, trapped in the web of a spider. Seeing Cupidus fail would bring me more pleasure than seeing Cupidus succeed. "Of course, I would turn on you, if I thought I saw your success. It is in my nature." Jaundice continued conversationally, as if they were talking about the weather. "But until that point of no return I may be compelled to assist you... if you agree to make me feel beautiful, Ardent Desire... and to help me earn some of what I deserve." "Envy demons." Ardent Desire muttered, and then he grimaced and shook his head slowly before looking up silently. "If you want Cupidus to fail so much, Jaundice, because you hate everything that's more important than you... why don't you try and challenge your nature? Because I'm sure the reason Cupidus assigned you to me isn't just because of how miserable you make me... because he depends on what a pathetic slave you are to your weakest drives." Ardent Desire turned to begin striding across the snowy lawn, and Jaundice's glammer vanished from around her body, revealing her true, hideous form as she snarled and leaned forwards, eyes blazing. Immediately, the stallion was driven to the ground as telekinesis crushed him and savage mental claws ripped voraciously at his mind, but he only gasped before clenching his teeth, refusing to scream. He didn't cry out even as the pressure increased, even as he grabbed automatically at his head and felt bones creaking and threatening to break, felt blood bursting from his ears and nose and eyes as he convulsed violently beneath her psychic barrage... And then, as suddenly as it came, it was over, and Ardent Desire gasped for air as he glared over his shoulder at the Envy demon. But once more, she was cloaked in her illusion of beauty... except unlike the smile that usually masked her face, she was frowning at him curiously. "You didn't cry out." she said softly, and Ardent Desire shivered as he slowly forced himself to his hooves, looking across at her silently. "Ten years ago, and my gentlest mental touch could reduce you to broken tears. And you have not changed much since then... you have always been easily broken, the easiest of all the many serfs and slaves and prisoners I have tortured. You are still a coward, and weak... so why did you not cry out?" "Because..." Ardent Desire shook his head slowly, then he looked up and said firmly: "Because... I can be what I want to be. I'm weak but... if I keep trying my best, one day maybe I'll be strong, like the demons my mother told me stories about, who... who fought their primal instincts and won, who made their sins, their powers... into good. No, I'll do better than that... I'll... I'll laugh, and I'll smile, and I'll make people happy, happy for real! I'll make my weakness into strength, and I'll use my power to give to others, and... I will become a demon, but not like you, or Cupidus. I'll... I'll never forget who I truly am, no matter what you do to me. No matter what I even do to myself." There was silence for a few moments, and Jaundice shifted uneasily... before Ardent Desire cursed when his mane and tail burst into flames, wincing over his shoulder. And then he cried out and arched his back as the fires roared higher, twisting and roaring backwards before settling slowly and swaying silently in the air, the stallion trembling and breathing hard as he leaned forwards and shivered once, then shook his head out slowly. He could feel the flames roiling and writhing in place of his mane, but slowly, the pain was fading and the fire began to feel... almost natural. It was hard to phrase, as he let his head hang forwards, his eyes closed. Then he winced when a hoof gently touched his features, looking awkwardly up as Jaundice looked down at him before the demon said softly: "Let's see how true your words are, Ardent Desire. When you become a demon and take a new name for yourself... you may find you sing a different song." But Ardent Desire only forced a faint smile in return, straightening slowly and shaking his head out before he turned to follow when the envy demon strode past, promising himself silently that this time, he wouldn't betray everything his mother had taught him. Top ↑ Category:Transcript Category:Story